2006 Merlot, Vineyard 51, Alexander Valley

Lush aromas and flavors of blue fruit and red plum laced with sweet vanilla and dried sage. Medium-bodied, with broad, ripe tannins that add complex notes of cocoa and toast to the finish.

‘Vineyard 51,’ a top secret estate. Sand and gravel with volcanic sub-soils 80 feet elevation. The 2006 growing season got off to a late start with bud break beginning at the end of March and generous rainfall late into the Spring. High soil moisture going into the growth period allowed the vines to develop large canopies that required vigilant taming to maintain ideal fruit-to-canopy ratios. A record-breaking heat wave in July helped put an end to vegetative growth and spurred the vines onto the business of ripening fruit. The harvest period was nearly perfect, and so in the end the fruit attained excellent phenolic maturity as well as nicely developed varietal characters.

100% Merlot. Clone 181. Harvested by hand in the cool morning hours. Three to five day cold soak. Yeast strains T73. Concurrent primary and malolactic fermentation. Each lot fermented approximately 22 days with twice-daily, gentle pump-overs. Pressed at dryness to complete fermentation in barrel. Lightly filtered to bottle.

Approachable in its youth, this classic Alexander Valley Merlot will continue to improve with cellaring five years or more from vintage.

Cases Produced: 943